Oxford,

I guess my point is that I don’t think Payne thinks Asia is horrid or that the Norwegians were good. I think he was saying Ngoc had a better way of living than all the silly (and often absurdly silly) white people (especially Damon).

I also don’t think the movie was all about Paul as much as Paul was the vehicle allowing white eyes to see their own absurdities (Paul is like Piper in OITNB, the stand-in for the majority of the likely audience). Did it work, apparently not

I totally appreciate your frustration either way. The depictions of people of color across the board in movies and on television is almost always sad and usually reprehensible.

Thanks for a good conversation, look forward to more interactions in the future!